How to judge the quality of a cat food? I believe everyone has done more or less homework, such as looking at the ingredient list. I just gave up after looking at it.

The more you know, the more you realize you don’t understand, so you just have to follow the trend! So, is it reliable to look at the ingredient list? There is nothing wrong with it, it can be used as a basic criterion for judgment.

The ingredient list contains two parts: raw material composition and product ingredient analysis guaranteed value.

According to my country's "Pet Feed Label Management" regulations, product labels must indicate the composition of raw materials and the guaranteed value of product composition analysis, where the composition of raw materials should be arranged in descending order by ingredient weight.

Good Master Golden Cat Food Ingredient List Popular Guide tells us to look at the first few ingredients in the ingredient list when choosing cat food. There is basically no big problem if meat is placed first. If it is carbohydrates, we need to be vigilant. Then there is the guaranteed value of product ingredient analysis, looking at protein content, calcium to phosphorus ratio, etc. Jinzangcheng cat food ingredients are guaranteed to be valuable, but I want to know more about the quality of a cat food. You still have to read the test report. Just looking at the ingredient list is not comprehensive enough. First of all, the regulations only specify the type and order of raw materials, and we do not know the specific addition ratio. Second, the guaranteed value is a range value. This will cause some problems, such as the unclear ratio of amino acids and the inability to judge whether the protein source is of high quality. For example, you can increase the overall protein content by adding a variety of plant proteins. Therefore, the national standard is an indicator for judging whether a product is qualified, and it is definitely not a goal that enterprises should pursue. In order to reduce the cost of understanding for consumers, we simply go straight and check the specific data of the product.

01

How do you read the test report?

Let’s take a look at the national standard first. The national standard’s testing standards mainly include three dimensions: physical and chemical indicators and hygienic indicators. The national standard stipulates the testing rules and methods for these indicators. Physical and chemical indicators are what we usually call nutritional indicators, which are to ensure the daily needs of cats. Corresponds to the product promise value on the product packaging. Cat food can be divided into dry food, semi-moist food and wet food according to different moisture contents. . Puffed food, freeze-dried food, and baked food are dry food, while staple food cans are wet food. Hygiene indicators include heavy metals, toxins, bacteria and microorganisms, which set requirements for food safety and hygiene.

02

Golden Cat Food Inspection Results

With standards, there is a basis for judgment. The following is the inspection report of Golden Cat Food in September. Let’s take a look. result.

Scroll up and down to view Let’s first interpret the testing indicators corresponding to the national standard: The actual crude protein and crude fat The detected contents were higher than the guaranteed value and the lower limit of the national standard. The actual detected contents of crude ash and crude fiber were both lower than the guaranteed value and the upper limit of the national standard. The actual detected content of calcium and phosphorus is higher than the guaranteed value and the lower limit of the national standard, and the calcium to phosphorus ratio is 1.41: 1.38. The best ratio of calcium to phosphorus is between 1 and 1.2:1. Excessive calcium or phosphorus will affect the absorption of each other. The last item - health indicators. The content of heavy metals such as lead and mercury is far below the national standard upper limit. Aflatoxin and salmonella have not been detected, which means that our cat food is hygienic and safe.

03

Additional indicators in the test report

The above is the data interpretation for the national standard. On this basis, we have added the test data of pepsin digestibility and 18 amino acids to determine whether the protein is High quality, let’s focus on the key points. The pepsin digestibility reaches 95.2% (in vitro test), which means the animal protein content is high. Cats can only digest 60% to 80% of plant protein, while the digestibility of meat can reach 90% to 95%. The actual detected taurine content is higher than the guaranteed value and higher than the national standard. Taurine can protect cats’ vision and prevent eye diseases such as vision loss and conjunctivitis. Cats themselves cannot synthesize taurine and need to ingest it from external food, so it needs to be consumed daily Add extra to the grain. Meat can provide rich lysine. The actual lysine content is higher than the guaranteed value and national standard. . Lysine is also an essential amino acid, mainly found in animal foods and legumes, and in lower amounts in cereals. The raw material composition of Golden Cat Food does not contain beans and grains, but the lysine content is high, corresponding to the high meat content of the product. Lysine is an essential amino acid for cats to synthesize protein and hemoglobin. Its deficiency can easily cause anemia and other symptoms. Omega-3 and Omega-6 are essential fatty acids that the body cannot produce. The test results show that the above indicators of our cat food are higher than the guaranteed value and the national standard. There are three main types of Omega-3 fatty acids, including alpha-linolenic acid, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). EPA has anti-inflammatory effects, and DHA promotes brain development. EPA and DHA mainly exist in deep-sea fish and seaweed organisms, and adding deep-sea fish oil is to meet the needs of these two. Tuna is rich in EPA and DHA and lacks Omega-6 fatty acids, which can cause low reproductive capacity and coat condition. Not good. Omega-3 and Omega-6 have opposite effects on inflammation, and the ratio is best controlled within 1:5. The methionine content is 0.77%, which is greater than the 0.62% nutritional limit of AFFCO (American Feed Management Association) cat food. . The lack of methionine ginseng can easily lead to stunted development, muscle atrophy, and coat deterioration. Finally, let’s summarize the test results of our golden cat volume. Nutrition and hygiene are in line with national standards, the protein content is high and of high quality, and the amino acid ratio and calcium to phosphorus ratio are reasonable. Cat owners can eat it with confidence.